Are city-county mergers likely to take place?

Now that Schenectady Mayor Al Jurczynski has proposed the merger of his city with Schenectady County, the question becomes: Is such a radical transformation of things achievable?

The odds might appear to be against it. Since World War II, fewer than two dozen such mergers between major cities and counties have taken place in the nation. In New York state, such a consolidation has never happened.

Yet Jurczynski is optimistic, to all appearances. If "done properly," he said the merger could be achieved by the end of his first mayoral term--Jan. 1, 2000. To help make sure it is done properly, the mayor is in the process of assembling a committee that will be charged with developing an outline of the proposed merger, and otherwise help to make the case for consolidation.

That first step--making the case for the merger--will prove all-important, said Dennis Rapp, executive director of the State Commission on the Capital Region. The commission is a public-private panel that looks at making government more regional.

"The chances of success depend on how [Jurczynski] goes about it," Rapp said. "If he can demonstrate real cost reductions and show that the tax burden will not be shifted to the towns, it has a good chance."

The key is to be able to make the case that substantial savings can be realized for all county residents, he said. That will mean the city will have to show that it, too, can reduce its costs.

Rapp said he is not certain where the savings and efficiencies would be under such a merger, but he is confident they are there to be found. "The committee will have to come up with a list of potential savings," he said.

Generally, most proponents of the city-county merger contend that it will mean more efficient government, fewer public-sector workers, one less layer of government, a rationalized system of rules and regulations for business and industry, and--of equal importance--money saved.

Gary Weiskopf, the acting director at the Center for New York State and Local Government Studies, added that such a merger will broaden the tax base for government services and thus help avoid further "urban blight." The center is part of the State University of New York's Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Meanwhile, Frank Quinn, executive director of the Capital Region Economic Development Corp., said a merger and the consequent reduction of people on the public payroll would translate into an "increase in opportunity for more private-sector jobs." The Capital Region EDC is a group formed to help create a more unified approach to regional development efforts.

While his group has not taken a position on the proposed merger, Quinn said he sees it as an opportunity for greater use of the infrastructure by allowing for the expansion of the city's water and sewer authorities, for example. "Industrial sites might be better served," he said.

To support their optimism, some proponents of the merger idea point to the experiences of cities and towns that already have merged. Margaret Buhrmaster, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature and a long-time advocate of consolidation, said the experience of Indianapolis, a city that now includes the whole county in which it formerly was situated, shows that merging can work and money can be saved.

Indianapolis, for example, reduced the cost of its operations by 25 percent. In addition, Buhrmaster said it encouraged economic development by essentially creating "one-stop shopping"--compatible zoning laws, a uniform tax system and environmental law --and by making it possible for businesses to deal with fewer layers of government.

Buhrmaster, unlike others who say they see no "downside" to a merger that is conducted properly, said opponents of merging have at least two legitimate concerns: first, that the county might not do as capable a job as the city now is doing in some areas, such as consumer protection; second, that the cost of services could go up for the towns. But the latter concern could be allayed by creating a two-tier tax system under which the residents of the city pay for what they receive, she said

All of this raises the still-unanswered question: What will the city and county look like after the proposed merger takes place? What will the proposed merger encompass?

Among the possibilities is that the city of Schenectady would cease to exist as a state-chartered governmental unit. Taking the merger proposal even further, all of the county's five towns and two villages could join the merger with the city and county, a situation much like that merger of Indianapolis today.

A merger of this scope--or, indeed, a merger between any two or more local governments, including a county--could be facilitated by a bill sponsored last session by Assemblyman Jacob Gunther (D-Orange County) and Sen. William Larkin (R-Orange County).

The bill would establish statutory guidelines for local government mergers, and includes a provision that would maintain the same level of revenue sharing for five years after a governmental unit ceased to exist. In addition, it would require that public hearings be held on any merger proposal and that a majority of the voters in each of the local governments involved give their approval.

A spokesman for Sen. Larkin's office said the bill, which failed to pass in the Assembly, would be reintroduced in both houses next year.

A more modest approach to merging is that suggested by Schenectady Mayor Jurczynski, who seems to want broadly something like a complete consolidation of county and city services, purchasing and taxing. But he said he does not think the city of Schenectady should disappear altogether, if for no other reason than the continuing opportunity to receive those federal funds that are earmarked solely for America's cities.

Perhaps what would remain in the Electric City would be a "paper government," or "pass-through government," comprising a mayor and a council whose occupants would volunteer their services.

But on the question of how precisely the commission's proposal might look, or how the final product might evolve, the mayor confesses nonclairvoyance. "It's never been done before," Jurczynski said. "Nobody can say how it can happen."

A third general approach might be a simple and gradual consolidation of certain services, offices and functions, much like what has been accomplished already with the 911 emergency line and the recent city council attempt to transfer purchasing and consumer protection functions to the county.

Such an approach to a "merger" would appear to be less cumbersome in that no state-enabling legislation would be needed. Nor would it be necessary to hold a countywide referendum, Schenectady County Legislature chairwoman Buhrmaster said. Such a piecemeal approach would be possible merely by amending local law at the city and county levels.

But any attempt to merge likely will encounter serious obstacles, which could include everything from fears of local residents that they will lose what the State Commission on the Capital Region's Rapp has called their "identity of place," to concerns of municipal workers that they will lose their jobs in a countywide downsizing and fears of non-city residents that they effectively will be bailing out the city of its financial woes.

Mayor Jurczynski and Buhrmaster both said that much of the opposition can be stilled if the city makes assurances that it will pay its fair share. That can be done either through a two- or multi-tiered tax system under which the city and its residents would be charged the full cost ofthe services received.

All of the discussion of city-county mergers and consolidations, however, is based on an assumption that may not be true.

James Conroy, Troy's current deputy mayor--and former Schenectady city councilman and mayoral candidate in a losing race against Jurczynski--said it is by no means self-evident that bigger government is better government.

Indeed, the whole national trend would appear to be in precisely the opposite direction, with Washington, D.C., "devolving" some of its powers and responsibilities back to the states. After 40 years of Great Society legislation and the ever-increasing consolidation of powers at the federal level, the nation seems to be ready for greater local government and control.

Conroy, who said he isn't necessarily opposed to the merger of a city and county, contends that the consolidation effort in Schenectady County so far has resulted "neither in cost cuts nor in improved services." He pointed to the countywide 911 system, which he does not consider a success, and the county takeover of health services, which he said has not resulted in any money savings.

At any rate, there is something to be said for small, local governments, he added. While a consolidation of some services and programs, along with more equitable sharing of taxes may be advised, Conroy said, "people like to know who to call for garbage collection or street plowing." They are comforted to know that someone is concerned not about the whole county but about their particular neighborhood. Moreover, some residents get pretty disturbed by a change as seemingly small as the relocation of a firehouse, he said.

Troy is not moving in the direction of a city-county merger and likely will not, at least anytime soon, Conroy said. Much of the reason is that while such a move might make sense in Schenectady, a geographically small county with a single dominating city, Rensselaer County is larger and far more varied geographically.

Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings likewise said he does not think that a city-county merger is the direction in which Albany should move. "It's premature to even look at that here," Jennings said. "Within the city there are many things to look at before we even begin" to consider a merger.

Jennings said the city of Albany already is looking to set up a regional landfill and would like to have its water distributed throughout the county, and centralize, along with towns and villages, such things as the recertification of firemen and the purchasing of equipment. But a merger for Albany is not even in the picture.

Conroy, Troy's deputy mayor, made much the same point. A lot by way of savings and increasing efficiency can be done short of actual consolidation, he said. "You don't need to do away with the assessor," he said. "If he has a computer and the appropriate technology, you can accomplish more efficient government without consolidating."

Even Schenectady County Legislative chairwoman Buhrmaster admitted that the savings realized in Indianapolis may not have been completely the result of the city-county merger. Much of those savings resulted from the introduction of competitive bidding for all kinds of services, including garbage, water and the airport.

Thus, in her plea for consolidation, she said she is careful not to promise reduced costs. "Some have said we could cuts costs by 25 percent" through a merger, Buhrmaster said. "That is not realistic. But a merger can help us get costs under control. If we sell it as cutting taxes and costs, people may be disappointed," she said.

Meanwhile, Niskayuna Town Supervisor Edwin Reilly, perhaps the foremost skeptic of the merger proposal, said he can't picture a hybrid situation in which the city and county merge while the towns are left out. Yet, to get the towns involved would require a compete overhaul of government organization and, in time, that would require new state legislation.

Reilly said he is not opposed to helping out the city of Schenectady and, indeed, the towns should come to the city's aid. But merging on any scale might not be the best means to that end, he said.

He said that, ideally, the makeup of county government should be changed much along the lines of the Saratoga County model. Under that system, members of the county government are not elected directly to that body but are made up of the various elected officials, including town supervisors. Such a move would result in more responsive "county" representatives--people who might be more willing to alter the sales tax distribution formula so that the city can receive a greater share of the revenue.

At any rate, there isn't much money to be saved by merging the city and county, he said. There is not much, if any, duplication in services now, while a lot of what conceivably can be consolidated, already has been. The airport, the libraries, the community college, social services and the county home already are consolidated, and those are most of the big-money items, Reilly said. In other areas, "the city and county have very dissimilar functions, and that's why it's difficult to find overlap," he said.

Finally, Reilly said he sees no justification for doing away with either the city or the towns, the latter being the most successful form of government in the state.

There is much to be said for town government, he said. "Here we decide when to pick up brush or put up street lights," Reilly said. "Will the county do that? We can now decide on what services we want."

It would be far preferable and much easier simply to change the county charter to a more responsive form of representation than attempt a wholesale merger, Reilly said. Despite all the talk about numerous, overlapping governments, Schenectady County is not all that "fractionalized." There are only five towns in the county, and only four large governments. "Anything bigger means control problems [and] people don't know their representatives," he said.

Besides, if there is a countywide referendum on the merger proposal, Reilly said it is unlikely to pass in the towns. People are not likely to transfer their resources to another entity, especially when transfer probably would include the assumption of the city's $43.2 million in general obligation debt.

Indeed, they may not, seconded Gerald Benjamin, former director of the Center for New York State and Local Government Studies and current dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the State University at New Paltz. One must remember that a local government tries to serve multiple values--values such as economy and efficiency, but also a sense of community, control over local land use and local decision-making generally.

"People are jealous of their prerogatives and power ... I'm skeptical of it [a merger]," Benjamin said. "A functional approach like consolidating road service that does not create new structures might be better."

Schenectady Mayor Jurczynski doubtless recognizes the binding ties of local sentiment as well. But he is betting that those ties might be weakened somewhat if it is shown that merging will redound to everyone's benefit--a financial benefit foremost to the city, but a boon also for the rest of the county--if nothing else in the form of joint ownership of the city's considerable assets. Those assets include Proctor's Theatre, the golf course, the waste transfer station, water supply and sewage system.

"People who say it can't be done, don't want it to happen," Jurczynski said.